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Ultra-Conservative Christian Indiana Lawmaker Pushes Anti-Gay ‘License To Discriminate’ Bill

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Indiana’s Scott Schneider is pushing a religious “license to discriminate” bill, but it’s Schneider’s desire to impose his extremist views that are the real problem.

Indiana Republican state senator Scott Schneider is pushing an anti-gay bill cloaked as “religious liberty” legislation. Even proponents of these so-called religious freedom bills admit they rise from the ashes of same-sex marriage bans, and that’s exactly what’s happening in Indiana right now.

State Senator Scott Schneider is just the latest Republican to propose an anti-gay license to discriminate bill. These bills force the government to step aside if a person’s “deeply-held religious beliefs” mandate they act, or not act, in a certain manner. 

“The freedom of conscience bill is really about limiting government’s ability to squelch freedom of religion, conscience or speech,” Micah Clark, director of the Indiana chapter of the anti-gay hate group American Family Association, told the Indy Star.

But that’s not really what they’re about.

Some religious liberty bills can be used by pharmacists to refuse to dispense needed, prescribed contraceptive medications. Or they can be used by state employees to refuse to officiate at same-sex weddings, or even to refuse to issue a license to wed to a same-sex couple.

They also can be used by private businesses to refuse to serve gay people.

Advocates of these bills often cite examples of Christian bakers or florists who refused to do business with same-sex couples as the reason these bills are needed. These so-called Christians claim the Bible mandates they not bake cakes or arrange flowers for a same-sex wedding.

But the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968 ruled unanimously that the Bible cannot be used to discriminate against Black people, so why can it be used to discriminate against gay people?

Sen. Schneider thinks it can.

But Senator Schneider, unbeknownst to most people, has an extremist background that one might think colors his legislation.

For starters, his mother is the president of the Indiana chapter of the Eagle Forum, a nationwide organization that has made statements that are anti-gay, anti-immigrant, racist, and misogynistic. It’s not surprising then that Sen. Schneider spoke at an Eagle Forum event last year, or that the Eagle Forum endorsed him and pushed his candidacy on social media.

Sen. Schneider’s own beliefs are extreme and antiquated.

Here he is with the virulently anti-gay Indiana Family Institute:

He pushed a bill that would require Indiana students to be taught that creationism has the same scientific validity as evolution.

An ardent advocate of school vouchers and privatization of education, Schneider is against Common Core. He also supported Richard Mourdock, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate who in 2012 claimed that children conceived in rape are “God intended.”

Here’s Sen. Schneider with the anti-choice extremist Catholic Father Frank Pavone:

In 2012 Schneider spoke at a Stand Up for Religious Freedom protest organized by Indianapolis Right to Life.

The Indy Star reports that “Schneider’s bill is likely to get serious consideration in the new General Assembly, which is more conservative than any in recent memory. Several moderate Republicans were knocked off by more conservative candidates in GOP primaries, and Republicans increased the size of their super-majorities in both chambers during the November general election.”

 

Image of Sen. Schneider via Indiana Senate Republicans

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‘Prices Go Up’: Economist Mocks Treasury Secretary’s ‘Empty Shelves’ Position

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A prominent economist is challenging U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claims about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff war on Americans’ ability to access goods in stores and online.

Bessent, a hedge fund manager and Trump donor and fundraiser, was asked on Monday if he’s worried about the possibility of empty shelves.

“Not at present,” Bessent told Fox News. “We have some great retailers. I assume they preordered.”

Appearing to mock Bessent, Wolfers paraphrased the Treasury Secretary: “If I hurt the American consumer enough, we’ll see how quickly the Chinese want to deescalate.”

READ MORE: ‘Great Jobs of the Future’ Are Generations of Family Factory Work Says Commerce Secretary

“Well,” Wolfers continued, “I’m not sure which side’s meant to be looking out for us right now,” he told MSNBC’s Katy Tur.

“Bessent might be right to say that shelves aren’t going to be empty,” Wolfers explained, “but the reason that would be is, if we have less stuff coming into the country and we’re not making more stuff, the only way that the shelves don’t empty is if the prices go up.”

“So, I think at this point, any economist is forecasting, either the shelves empty or the prices go up a lot. I’m actually in camp prices go up, but these are two pretty terrible flavors.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Wolfers appeared to mock several top members of the Trump administration.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “says he’s relying on Bessent to get a deal done with China, but on Sunday Bessent said he didn’t know whether or how often Trump has been calling Chinese President Xi, and Trump said he’s calling, but Xi said he’s not getting through,” Wolfers explained before asking, “Is anyone working on this?”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

 

Image via Shutterstock

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‘Great Jobs of the Future’ Are Generations of Family Factory Work Says Commerce Secretary

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In the wake of President Donald Trump moving to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, his Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, says the “great jobs of the future” will be generations upon generations of Americans working in factories.

“It’s time to train people, not to do the jobs of the past, but to do the great jobs of the future,” Lutnick, a billionaire, told CNBC on Tuesday afternoon (video below). “You know, this is the new model, where you work in these kind of plants for the rest of your life and your kids work here and your grandkids work here.”

“You know, we let the auto plants go overseas,” continued Lutnick, the former president and chief executive officer of the major financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. “Right now, you should see an auto plant. It’s highly automated, but the people, the four, five thousand people who work there, they are trained to take care of those robotic arms. They’re trained to keep the air conditioned system.”

The Commerce Secretary began by saying that the “key is, where are you gonna find the people to work here, right?”

READ MORE: ‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

“You go to the community colleges, and you train people, so all the community colleges around here,” he added, “all these community colleges here are training people right now, technicians, and these are really good paying jobs.”

Lutnick described the starting pay for these jobs as in the $70,000 to $90,000 range.

Professor of Economics Justin Wolfers asked, “Do you think Lutnick wants *his* kids and grandkids spending their lives in a manufacturing plant, or are these just aspirations for ‘other people’?”

Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic & Policy Research, declared, “It’s amazing how off the wall this guy is. Does Lutnick really know nothing about the economy?”

Media Matters for America’s Matthew Gertz added, “‘People don’t want upward mobility for their kids and grandkids’ is an interesting take from a billionaire whose parents were college professors.”

“This isn’t how modern manufacturing works,” noted podcaster Fred Wellman. “They don’t even turn on the lights. These lunatics are disconnected from reality.”

READ MORE: Just 100 Days in and Trump White House Is Already Prepping for Impeachment: Report

Philosopher and theologian Jay Mallow observed: “Man who has never worked a factory job ignores the historical reality that entire generations worked factory jobs so their children WOULDN’T work those same jobs.”

“The reason those jobs were once so desirable was because the workers had unions and collective bargaining,” wrote economics journalist Patrick W. Watson. “Lutnick and Trump have no interest in restoring that part.”

CNN’s Rachel Sklar, commenting on Lutnick’s remarks, said simply, “You first.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Heads on Pikes’: Trump White House Accused of ‘Vaguely Fascist’ Display

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being criticized after declaring he ended execution of a federal law promoting women, peace, and security that he described as “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative” — which was promoted by current top members of the Trump administration and signed into law in 2017 by President Donald Trump.

This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense,” Secretary Hegseth bragged on Tuesday. “WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.”

“WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it,” he claimed. “DoD will hereby executive [sic] the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!”

In 2019, the Trump White House lauded the WPS program:

“The Trump Administration is committed to advancing women’s equality, seeking to protect the rights of women and girls, and promoting women and youth empowerment programs. The United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy) responds to the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which President Donald J. Trump signed into law on October 6, 2017.”

READ MORE: Just 100 Days in and Trump White House Is Already Prepping for Impeachment: Report

“This is the first legislation of its kind globally, which makes the United States the first country in the world with a comprehensive law on WPS, and de facto, the first with a whole-of-government strategy that responds to such a domestic law. The WPS Strategy recognizes the diverse roles women play as agents of change in preventing and resolving conflict, countering terrorism and violent extremism, and building post conflict peace and stability.”

Critics blasted Hegseth, while reporters were quick to correct the record with fact checks.

The Washington Post’s military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe noted that Marco Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State, and Mike Waltz, now Trump’s National Security Advisor, were supporters of the Women, Peace, and Security Act.

Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio added: “Marco Rubio was the lead Senate sponsor of WPS. Kristi Noem was the lead House sponsor. And Mike Waltz chaired the House’s WPS caucus.”

In addition to Secretary of State Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Noem, and National Security Advisor Waltz, Senior White House Advisor Ivanka Trump was also part of the U.S. strategy for implementing the Women, Peace, and Security Act.

Politico’s deputy managing editor of global security, Dave Brown, responded to Hegseth’s post, noting U.S, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just 28 days ago wrote: “President Trump also signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a bill that I was very proud to have been a co-sponsor of when I was in the Senate, and it was the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world – the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world – focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.”

READ MORE: ‘Heads on Pikes’: Trump White House Accused of ‘Vaguely Fascist’ Display

CNN’s Pentagon reporter Haley Britzky pointed to a West Point Modern War Institute article that states, “the United States’ WPS Strategy…acknowledges that this inclusion is not a political human rights or social justice agenda, but a framework that advances US competitive advantage, allowing it to achieve national security objectives through harnessing women’s distinctive aptitudes, diversity of thought, and unique access to areas where women have specific roles in certain societies.”

“You are lying again,” responded Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot and former Democratic candidate. “WPS was enacted by Trump during his first admin. It’s not divisive. It’s a small program for DOD but one based on real data, so it doesn’t fit your cave man style understanding of security. Troops don’t hate it. Most don’t even know it exists.”

The Economist’s defense editor Shashank Joshi called Hegseth’s remarks “rank ignorance.”

RELATED: ‘Rank Incompetence’: Trump Says Hegseth Is ‘Safe’ Just Before Navy ‘Loses’ $60 Million Jet

 

Image via Reuters 

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